Make it Personal: 6 Ways to Find Your Home Design Style

It’s easy to get stuck when searching for your personal design style. Read on for tips on how to successfully tackle your home design projects.

You may be a college student whose dorm is filled with disposable plates and the only decoration is a pencil holder on your desk and some movie posters. Or maybe you’re a person whose home is nice, but is lacking something that you can’t quite put your finger on. Or you could be a professional whose home is decorated, but for some reason you’re just not feeling it anymore. Then again, you might simply be someone who is looking to find out what their personal style is because, frankly, you don’t think you have one. This may seem like a huge challenge to tackle, and you may not know where to start on your journey to find your home decor style. Not to worry, I’m here to help with six super easy tips that will help you find a design style.

1. Think it through

We ALL need time to think. Whether you get your best thinking done outside with nature or indoors with Fido or Felix, you need to sit down and determine what your home design style is or what it should be. Ask yourself “How would I like my bathroom to look?”, “What color would I like to paint my living room?”, and “Do I want my home to be bursting with different decor or should I keep things simple?” These are all straightforward questions, but only you can answer them.

One way you can answer these questions is to sit down and think about what you want the room in question to look like. Take a sheet of paper (or, well, several), and write everything down. Go room by room, spanning your whole house or apartment, and flesh out what types of furniture you want, what colors you would like to paint the walls, and what types of decor you want in each space. I’m serious. Write it all down. Whatever comes to mind, just put it on the paper. Don’t worry about what it’s going to look like yet, just get the ideas out and onto paper. Once you can’t think of anything else, re-read what you wrote. Are there things on there you absolutely love or hate? Make a note of that. Keep going over everything on your list until you have narrowed it down to the point where you can’t go any further. You could have a couple ideas or a ton of ideas for each room. It doesn't matter. It’s the ideas, the home designs, and the thinking process, that are key.

2. Know what vibe you want

Once you’ve whittled down your list, and before you begin to plan your purchases, you need to ask yourself an essential question. What is the most important thing you need from your home? Is it comfort, functionality, a mood boost, or something else entirely? I like to call these the necessities. Your home can be beautiful and magazine ready, but if you can’t live in it and don’t like the feel of it, then what’s the point?

For some people it might be hard to really determine what you NEED from your home. For me, it’s all about the comfort. So when you come into my home you instantly feel welcome and at ease, which is exactly my intention. There are a couple different ways to create a certain vibe in your space. One way is to think about what type of furniture would emulate the vibe you are looking for. Are you looking for comfort? Have some big plush chairs or couches and squishy pillows in your space.

The other way is to choose the right colors. According to color theory, each color in the spectrum has its own vibe, its own aura, and to add that color to your room will help create the perfect atmosphere for your space. Do you want a very relaxing space? Blues, lavenders, and even greens can all be relaxing on the eyes. Maybe you want a more exciting room for games and hanging out with friends. Yellows, oranges, and reds are perfect for that. Check out this series of posts on adding painted walls to your home with color theory. It’ll give you a helping hand when trying to pick out colors.

3. Check out different designs

Blogs, interior design magazines, and design websites are your best friend when it comes to choosing your interior design style. They are great resources that you can use to find inspiration. Find a space that appeals to you and that you would like to replicate in your home. I recommend sites like Houzz because they have a large selection of design photos that are categorized by design style name.

Avoid scrolling through blogs or flipping through magazines, and simply saying to yourself that you like the design. Try to pick out specific things you like, and add those ideas to your space. Remember those lists you made? Yeah, they’ll totally come in handy here. This is the cool part. You get to check out ideas from home designers, interior decorators, and many other people who are great at home decor, and see what you like and don’t like. Mix and match if you want. This isn’t something you can fail at, honest. You just keep looking until something catches your eye, like a color scheme or a statement piece, something particular about the room design, and add it to your list. Maybe at this point you might want to look at a binder with clippings of the cool color schemes and statement pieces. Go crazy. We won’t judge.

4. Stay true to you

Stay true to yourself and your preferences. In order to develop your personal style, you need to know who you are inside and out. But don’t forget what you need from your space as well. Staying true means being honest about what you like and don’t like. Rather than simply accepting a design as is, add your own little touches that will make your space all you. Those lists that you have been creating will help with that. They’ll help you keep straight what you know you like, and what you don’t like, so when you go to create your own space, you can make it super personal. Adding in personal touches like artwork you like, cool lamps, or even just photos of loved ones will make the room completely yours. Even more so if you have artwork, paintings, or creations made by friends, family, or yourself to place around your space. That’s what will make your interior decorating very personal, and very you!

5. have fun

Don’t limit yourself! Home interior design is so popular because it is challenging, fun, and an avenue for creativity. When you finally develop your personal style don’t feel obligated to stick to it at all costs. If you feel like you’re more boho chic, but then fall in love with city glam; it’s all good! Your personal style is supposed to fit you and make you happy.

Finding your own design style can bring that special spark into your home and make you fall head over heels in love with it!

Personally, I’m all over the place when it comes to design. I am an eccentric and a bit eclectic with my designs. If I had to best describe my personal style, it would be modern minimalist mixed with some earthy nuances. Within my self-defined design category, I can really be my true, one-of-a-kind self. Finding your personal style should be a liberating experience, not one that causes you stress.

6. Make a choice!

There are many different design styles out there, but which one fits YOU? Are you Modern? Country? Traditional? Tuscan? Coastal? Romantic? Rustic? Or something else? There are tons out there that already have names and schemes that go with them, but in all reality, you don’t have to pick just one. You don’t even have to pick at all. If you happen to fit in a category, great! If you flip flop between several, or mesh a bunch together, that’s great, too! All that matters is that you are finding decor items that you like and that are YOU.

Remember, you don’t have to fit into any one category to be able to design your home interior. If there are pieces of one you like and want to mix with another, be our guest! Tip 5 told you to have fun, and that doesn’t stop when you're looking at styles. Go with what you love. Find the categories that have similarities between what you picked on your list, and go from there. No one ever said you had to stick to exactly what one style says you have to do. This is about finding YOUR style. So, go. Search. Find your style.

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Finding your design style and bringing it into your home is so important. I know so many people who say they like a specific style, but their homes don’t show it. Your design style is what speaks to you and makes you happy; why not try to incorporate it into your home? Places like Walmart, Target, and various thrift stores carry inexpensive items that can be used to decorate your home. If you’re looking for higher end items, places like Layla Grayce, One Kings Lane, and our own website have some really amazing pieces.

I hope these tips will help you to figure out what direction to go in your own home design project. Just remember to be you. Please share this post if you found it helpful, and comment to let us know how you get started when tackling your interiors!

Stay tuned for my blog, Designing on a Penny Budget, which will provide tips to help you stay within your budget! No matter what your budget is, you can always make your home a reflection of your unique design style.

Great points! I get overwhelmed in designing with the endless options out there, so this is a great guide to help focus your ideas. And that floral wallpaper and fuchsia chair are to die for… Gimme, gimme!

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